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Let's face
it: philosophers don't have the best public image, and it's not normally the
first option that comes to mind as a major for people who are looking to
achieve economic success and security. But image is nothing. The reality is
that majoring or minoring in philosophy is an excellent option for people
wanting to go on in business, education, law, computing, and many other
promising careers.
Ask some college graduates what was useful about taking courses, and you will
find that they rarely say they learned facts that were helpful in their jobs.
It is the skills you gain in college that help you later on. Work conditions
these days change so fast that even if the facts you learn at college are
useful at the time, they often go out of date fast. In hiring new employees,
employers are looking for people who can learn on the job, who can both work
as part of a team and also think independently, and who are highly motivated.
Through studying philosophy, you will gain the following skills:
- Clear thinking
- Logical reasoning
- Creative thinking
- Explaining your ideas well in writing
- Explaining your ideas well verbally in
discussion with others
- Understanding complex and difficult systems of
ideas
- Understanding difficult (and even badly
written) texts
- Learning to understand the points of view of
others
- Mental agility and flexibility
Students who
study philosophy tend to better than other students in standardized tests
like LSATs and GREs, because of the skills they have learned. So majoring or
minoring in philosophy is an especially good idea if you are thinking of
going on to graduate school.
Furthermore, many of the classes in Philosophy at Dowling focus on real-life
topics and are very practical. They deal with difficult and controversial
issues which you have to face in many parts of life, and studying them ahead
of time gives you some preparation for facing them later on.
Finally, for people who are intellectually alive and curious about the world
around them, studying philosophy can be intensely interesting. The fact is
that people tend to do better at subjects that they find fascinating.
So now you can see why philosophy is in fact one of the most useful and
rewarding majors or minors at Dowling College.
See what other colleges
have to say about the advantages of studying philosophy:
·
American
Philosophical Association
·
Boise State University
·
California State, Sacramento
·
College of New Jersey
·
Georgia State
University
·
King's College,
PA
·
Metropolitan State College of
Denver
·
Miami University,
Ohio
·
Texas
A&M
·
Texas Tech
·
Tulane University
·
University of Cincinnati
·
University of
Detroit, Mercy
·
University
of Minnesota, Morris
·
University of
Virginia
·
Westminster
College
·
York University
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